Community, Elected Officials to Rally at 8th Annual Asthma March in East Harlem

September 10, 2009

Thousands Expected to Raise Public Awareness of High Asthma Rates in African-American and Latino Children

Contact:
Ellen Lubell, The Children's Aid Society, (o) 212-949-4938, (c) 917-854-6864
Emily Crossan, The Children’s Aid Society, (o) 917-286-1548, (c) 201-344-5742
Day-of Contact: Delfina Cruz, (c) 646-331-4569

When/Where:
Saturday, September 12, 2009
11:00 a.m. – Participants gather at 105 East 116th Street bet. Park and Lexington Avenues
12:30 p.m. – Marchers arrive at State Office Building Plaza, 163 West 125th Street, just east of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., for awards ceremony and health fair

What:
Thousands of community members, advocates and elected officials will march for increased awareness of asthma and health care services at the 8th Annual Asthma March. Childhood asthma rates in New York City exceed national rates (17% vs. 13%), especially in certain neighborhoods – Harlem and East Harlem, most of the Bronx and parts of Brooklyn.* Two of the March’s Grand Marshals, Kyla Bonner, 11, and Morgan Strydom, 12, will represent the thousands of children in New York City who suffer from asthma.

The 2009 Asthma March, organized by the East Harlem Asthma Working Group and co-sponsored by The Children’s Aid Society, Health Plus, East and Central Harlem District Public Health Office and G-Surgical Supplies, will be held in memory of the late New York City Council Member Philip Reed, a co-founder of the March.

Who:
March Grand Marshals:
- Kyla Bonner, 11-year-old asthma sufferer, The Children’s Aid Society East Harlem Center
- Angela Diaz, MD, MPH, Director, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center and President, The Children’s Aid Society Board of Trustees
- Debi B. Jackson, WBLS Radio personality
- Morgan Strydom, 12-year-old asthma sufferer, The Children’s Aid Society’s East Harlem Center

Elected Officials:
- New York City Council Member Inez Dickens
- New York City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito - will receive an award for support of asthma issues
- New York State Senator Bill Perkins
- New York State Assembly Member Adam Clayton Powell IV
- New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
- U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel – will receive an award for support of asthma issues
- New York State Senator José M. Serrano

The Children’s Aid Society (www.childrensaidsociety.org), founded in 1853, is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, arts programming, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. The Children's Aid Society is a founding member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the vast majority of Children’s Aid sites are Boys & Girls Clubs. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or e-mailellenl@childrensaidsociety.org.

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*New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene